Rep. Ed Osienski

This Act requires the tax collecting authority of each county, in the first tax year following a general reassessment, to allow the payment of school taxes under a payment plan of at least 3 equal installments for a residential taxpayer, in a primary residence, whose tax bill increases by $300 or more over the prior year. No late fees, interest, or penalties may be assessed to a taxpayer who enters and complies with a payment plan. The Act also reduces late payment penalties for school taxes in New Castle County to 1% per month, the current penalty for late payment in Kent and Sussex. This Act sunsets 3 years after its enactment into law.

This Act codifies Delaware’s longstanding common law recognition of the authority of Delaware counties and municipalities to separately tax different classes of real property if the classification is reasonable and, under § 1 of Article VIII of the Delaware Constitution, the tax rates are uniform for all real property in each classification. See Green v. Sussex County, 668 A.2d 770, 776 (Del. Super. Ct. 1995), aff’d 667 A.2d 1319 TABLE (Del. 1995); Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Smith, 131 A.2d 168, 177-78 (Del. 1957); Phila. B & W R. Co. v. Mayor & Council of Wilm., 57 A.2d 759, 765-66 (Del. Ch. 1948); Conrad v. State, 16 A.2d 121, 125-26 (Del. 1940). As this Act is a codification of longstanding authority of taxing authorities to separately tax different classes of real property, Section 5 of this Act makes clear that this Act applies to county tax rates retroactively and prospectively.

This Act allows any school district located in New Castle County to reset its tax rates for the 2025-2026 tax year and to reissue a tax warrant using different residential and non-residential tax rates. The non-residential tax rate must be at least equal to the residential tax rate and may not be more than 2 times the residential tax rate. The total amount of revenue projected to be collected through use of the residential and non-residential tax rates may not exceed the total amount of revenue the district was projected to collect under its original tax warrant. The districts have 10 business days from the enactment of this Act to reset the rates and issue a new tax warrant to New Castle County. Upon receipt of a new tax warrant, New Castle County will supplement any tax bill already issued for taxpayers in that district and adjust tax bills with an extended deadline for payment of October 30, 2025 for tax bills that change. For any taxpayer who submits payment under the original tax bill and whose total school tax liability is adjusted downward, the difference will be credited against future tax liability unless the taxpayer submits a written request for a refund, in which case New Castle County shall issue a refund. A school district that resets its rates in accordance with this Act may request and borrow from State Division I funds in the event of a cash flow shortfall of local school funds due to the extension of the deadline for tax payments for the 2026 fiscal year.

This Act requires a county to issue a refund to a taxpayer for property tax determined to have been overpaid for that year after an assessment appeal if the amount is $50 or greater. A county may elect to refund or credit the amount against future taxes due when the overpayment is less than $50. Amounts in school taxes determined to have been overpaid by a taxpayer after an assessment appeal will be refunded by the county following the same rule.

This Act adds the existence of the Division of Legislative Services and the Office of the Controller General into Delaware Code. Chapter 11 of Title 29 details the creation of Legislative Council, as well as the authority of the Council to appoint a Director of the Division of Legislative Services (Director) and a Controller General. Chapter 11 further states that the Director shall organize and supervise the Division of Legislative Services and that the Controller General may be provided with additional employees to enable the Controller General to perform their duties. However, our Code does not create the Division of Legislative Services or the Office of the Controller General, which are the offices overseen by the Director and Controller General, respectively.

This bill makes a technical correction to the specific categories of persons required to obtain a fingerprint-based background check under this chapter in order to comply with the requirements of Public Law (Pub. L.) 92-544 for access to FBI criminal history record information.

This Act removes prohibitions in Title 11 of the Delaware Code related to owning or possessing certain types of knives that may be opened by one hand. Such cutting implements are lawfully used as tools by many working in the trades, and are also popular among outdoor, hunting, and camping enthusiasts. Currently, despite common and myriad lawful purposes, such knives are treated as deadly weapons in Delaware, and therefore subject otherwise law-abiding Delawareans engaged in law-abiding activities to criminal prosecution in the justice system. Removing the prohibitions would permit individuals to lawfully use such tools, but would still subject them to prosecution for deadly weapons-related offenses where an individual uses such a knife in the course of an attack or assault aimed at causing death or serious injury.

This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 156. Like Senate Bill No. 156, this Substitute prohibits the reporting of medical debt to consumer reporting agencies and prohibits any medical debt from being included on a consumer report. Since 2023, at least 9 other states have passed laws that prohibit or restrict the reporting of medical debt on credit reports, including California, New Jersy, and Virginia. This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 156 in that it (1) adds language to the purpose section of the statute making it clear that the intent of the chapter is for medical debt not to be used in credit, employment, or housing decisions; (2) removes the proposed definition of medical debt information and instead adds a definition of medical debt; and (3) removes the proposed prohibition language on using a credit report containing medical debt information from being used when making decisions regarding someone’s credit, employment, or housing.

This Act creates a breastfeeding and lactation program within the DOC to provide lactation support to women in DOC custody. Among other things, it permits women to collect breast milk for later retrieval and delivery to an infant or toddler by an approved person. It also requires the DOC to provide nutrition information and a meal plan specific to pregnant, post-partum, or lactating women, based on national best practices. This Act further requires that DOC publish an annual report regarding the number of participants in the program and the nature of services provided.

The purpose of this Act is to protect medical providers in the State from out-of-state lawsuits and investigations that threaten the practice of medicine in the State. To that end this Act does the following: 1) Clarifies that physicians, physician assistants, and nurses that provide lawful healthcare services in the State do not engage in unprofessional conduct and cannot be disciplined for such services even if such services are illegal or considered to be unprofessional conduct or the unauthorized practice of medicine or nursing in another state. 2) In a civil action or proceeding, prohibits any healthcare provider from disclosing communications and records concerning healthcare services unless the patient authorizes such disclosure, with some exceptions. 3) Provides protections from civil and criminal actions that arise in another state that are based on the provision of health care services that are legal in Delaware. 4) Creates a cause of action for persons against whom a judgment was entered in another state based upon that person allegedly providing, receiving, or helping another person to provide healthcare services that are lawful in Delaware. (This does not apply to an action where no part of the acts that formed the basis for liability occurred in Delaware.) 5) Prohibits an insurer from taking an adverse action against a healthcare provider or organization for performing or providing healthcare services that are lawful in this State. 6) Prohibits any State or local agency, commission, board, or department from assisting a federal law-enforcement agency, another state’s law-enforcement agency, a private citizen, or a quasi-law-enforcement agency in relation to an investigation or inquiry concerning the lawfulness of healthcare services, if such services would be lawful as provided if they occurred entirely in the State.